Civil Rights Activists

"I have been in front of you for a lifetime. I have been in front of you for the last 40 years in the absence of my teacher. If you really want to know how good a student is, just leave the classroom: Children don’t mind monitors; they say, “That’s the teacher’s pet.” He left me with you."

"There is nothing that I have done, nothing that I have been blessed to say—all the wonderful things that I have been guided to do up to this very moment came from the mind of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. He told me that he wanted my mind. He wanted me to line my mind up with his mind so that it would be one mind. I did not know how that could be accomplished. One day I was talking with my friend and confidant, Brother Jabril Muhammad, and I told him what The Messenger had said, and I said, “Gee, how … do I get his mind?” He said, “Oh, brother, that’s easy!” He said, “He has to bring you in the same path that God brought him, and you will walk right up into his mind.” To my Christian family, the scripture teaches, “Let this mind be in you the same that was in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5) Here, God is offering to the people of His choice the greatest gift of all, because their suffering, under served, has made them heirs to the greatest gift of all, The Mind of God Himself through Jesus."

"They say if you want to hide something from a Black man, put it in a book. And if you want to hide the Birth of a Saviour for the Black man, hide Him in the ghetto."

"Mr. Trump, no wonder the general is a little kind of “p.o.’d” at you; because these same Black men whose mother you referred to in such a negative way for producing giants in the world of sport and play, you’re going to be calling on them to fight the war that you’re building up to now."

"Mr. Trump has changed the narrative. Black people don’t hate the flag, as such; they don’t hate America as such, but they just wanted to draw attention to what we are suffering under the flag. And the police that shot us down, they have a flag somewhere on their uniform. When we go to court, the flag is there—and we can’t get justice. My son’s father-in-law fought in World War II, and he saw his buddies shot down, blown to pieces, on Normandy Beach. So every time he sees the flag, he stands, puts his hand over his heart; not so much for the flag, but for the noble men and women who have died for that flag. But Mr. Trump: When did your father get here from Germany? And you so-called “patriots,” see, when you all came here from Europe, you had a country to come home to. The Statue of Liberty welcomed you: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” It never was a golden door for us. The first man to die in the Revolutionary War that gave America a nation was a Black man. Black folk died in the War of 1812; Black folk died in the Civil War on both sides, North and South. Black brothers have died in World War I, World War II, Korean Conflict, Vietnam, and the army is full of them now."

"Now, (as we have seen during football games): Is that flag horizontal? That’s disrespect of the American flag. And when my brother takes a knee, and his brothers join him, the president of the United States calls us “sons of bitches.” Now, when I was young, say something about mom: those are fighting words, brother. And to add insult to injury, the National Football League, and the Department of Defense have been paid millions of dollars to display the flag in that way, and play the national anthem. It leads to people joining the armed forces. It doesn’t have anything to do with “patriotism,” they get millions of dollars from the Department of Defense for displaying the flag in a disrespectful manner. It’s about money. It’s about recruiting. It’s about using the patriotic zeal of the people."

"Now, I’m asking you to reason with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad; I want us to look at what Elijah Muhammad put on the back page of our newspaper, The Final Call. He introduced The Muslim Program during a lecture delivered in July 1962 at the Arie Crown Theater in the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois; then in the next year it was on the back page of the Muhammad Speaks newspaper. And from that day to this, we have kept his Program before the world (“What The Muslims Want” and “What The Muslims Believe”)."

"We had an infinity of time: The Honorable Elijah Muhammad says that God taught him over 78 trillion years of time on our planet—not his (the White Man.) Our planet, in Our universe—we are the makers of all that you see of creation. And when a son would be born to end the rule of the enemy of God, his (the enemy’s) job would have been made complete. Now, you can be angry with White people if you want to, and you could curse them out and say ugly things, because they have done ugly things. But wait a minute: They couldn’t have done any of this if Allah (God) didn’t permit it. He (the White Man) justifies his existence as a “devil” by being himself."

"So evil was allowed a period to rule, and a people were made to fulfill that which God permitted. We can say with knowledge that the rulers of this world, who happen to be Caucasian, have not been good. We are proof of that. And their history proves that they have not been good, not only to Black, Brown, Red and Yellow, but they have not been good to themselves and their own people. Nevertheless, the last message of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad in 1974, February the 26th, he said: “Who is responsible: The Potter or The Clay?” (Saviour’s Day address “When The Sun Rises in The West”). He said, “The White man could easily say, and rightly so, ‘I did not make myself.’ ” So you geneticists, and students of biology, you know that “white” is an absence of color that came from color. So if he is not the “original man,” and he is not; and he is not the “aboriginal,” and he is not. … He is not “man” as such, he is mankind: A kind of a man, made in the image and likeness of the Original Man."

"So we may be divine, and we are, but we have acted differently. It’s not our fault—it really is God’s doing. “You mean our savage behavior is God’s doing?” What kind of God would permit evil on our planet, and subject humanity to evil where we have become reflections of rebellion to God? “Did You do that, God?” May I answer? I will answer from God Himself, His words from the Holy Qur’an (Surah 2, verse 30). God was with the angels, according to The Qur’an, and He made a declaration. He said: “I am going to place a ruler in the earth.” And the angels said, “But what will You place in it other than that which will create mischief and cause the shedding of blood?” Allah knew the angels extolled His holiness and His righteousness, but He answered tersely, but truthfully: “I know what you know not.”"

"We have fallen a long way and it is time to recognize that. The outside world already recognizes it. They already know. They are waiting for us to catch up to what we have shown them. There was a time when you could not go in any ward where Black people live and you could not find a Muslim with the Muhammad Speaks. There was a time when Black women, even though they never came to a mosque, felt safe when they saw a Muslim because they knew we would protect them. There was a time when gang violence would never rear its ugly head because the F.O.I. was strong. But today, when the light goes out in the house, there is nothing for the people to hold onto. So should the show go on? Should the masquerade ball continue? Or should we say that the masquerade is over and let’s go home and recommit our lives to Allah (God) and the righteous principles that we know we have been taught; recommit our lives to our spouses and children."

"Many of you look so beautiful in your uniforms and regalia for coming to the mosque. But as the Honorable Elijah Muhammad said during one lecture when our Muslim Brothers from the East were sitting on the rostrum, they are not here to see that you are clothed in a long, white dress or a long, black dress; they are here to see if you are clothed in the principles of your religion."

"The Muslim world is a caricature of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). A caricature is the gross enlargement of characteristics for the purpose of mockery or fun. Do you think the Prophet would be happy to see Shiite and Sunni Muslims slaughtering each other in Iraq? That is a caricature. The Muslim world is corrupted with conduct that the Prophet taught against: kings and rulers bringing in women and liquor from Europe, getting drunk in their palaces, coming to America and spending millions of dollars in gambling places and on prostitutes. This conduct is a caricature of the Prophet. We have to come back in our own house and end our caricature of Islam."

"While it is natural for a man to be attracted to the beauty of a woman, Brothers, we must restrain ourselves to protect our marriages and families. The face of the enticing beauty of women is a great test, which most of us fail. Men believe there is free pleasure, but there is no free woman. Every woman costs money and it costs money to play. To play with your wife, family and the future of that family is self-destructive and almost suicidal behavior."

"She argues with you because she is hurting. She feels betrayed. She does not mind calling you out of your name. Your children are listening. When the fight is over, the children talk to each other about what you called each other. If the father smacks the mother, the children tend not to take their father’s side. The woman brought them into the world. They are on her side because nature tells them to be on her side. Babies will throw their bottles at their fathers for hitting their mothers."

"Your wife may believe your lies about your whereabouts at first, but eventually you cannot fool your wife when another woman interferes in her house. She knows something is wrong; your touch does not feel the same. When she confronts you with actual facts, you become a master liar and manipulator. You put on a macho front and threaten her. But either you are going to come clean or you undermine yourself by lying."

"When men have an outside interest in another female, and they have made a vow to their wives; and because there are so many women with so few men, men feel that they can play with women, who do not respect marriage. In the Islamic world, adultery is punished by death penalty. Allah (God) gave Moses a law that the fornicator and adulterer should be stoned to death, because marriage is the cornerstone of family. Family is the cornerstone of nation and anything that will interfere, corrupt or destroy marriage and family is ultimately a disease that will undermine and sink that nation."

"So since the Creator is the author of our existence, should not He have the right to give us instructions and should not we respect His right to guide us in how to use the life that He so beautifully and wonderfully gave to us? The Bible and Holy Qur’an both contain instructions on how to use the life that Allah (God) has given. Scriptures are not romantic stories of foolishness; they offer many wonderful guiding principles. In our ignorance, we defile our bodies, but there is a consequence for rebellion against God, Who is the highest line of authority."

"Many of us drive automobiles, which came with an owner’s manual in the glove compartment when we bought it. If we really want to get the best out of our vehicles, we have to follow certain guiding principles in the owner’s manual from the maker. Some of us use beauty products, which have instruction on the bottle. If we fail to pay attention to the instructions, we may lose our hair."

"We are a sick people and there is no way we can expect White people to show respect to us and submit to our desires when we are so fractured and broken as a people. But no one wants to address the real problem: respect for authority. Who is the Supreme Authority of this creation? It is our Creator. Does the Creator have a right to expect from us respect, honor and obedience?"

"If a virtuous woman is more precious than silver and gold and you wake up in a place where there are 70 virtuous girls who have never been touched by a man, where did you wake up? You do not have to physically die to see that paradise, but you have to die as a n----r. You have to die as the creature that the White man made. When you wake up from that death, you will want to see virtuous women, because the Honorable Elijah Muhammad said, "Where there are no decent women, there are no decent men, for the Black woman is the mother of civilization.""

"So some women tell themselves they do not need a man for anything. It is not that our women want to be lesbians, but another woman understands the pain that another woman is going through or being put through in her interaction with men. When they get tired of the game playing, they fall on each other and find more comfort in another woman than they find in a man. But I do not care if you call yourself a lesbian, when a real man comes along, a real man will awaken that spark in you because you are a real woman—a beautiful woman, but a very abused woman."

"Some men have become so sick that they try to push themselves in a sexual way into a baby, splitting them. Fathers are sexually abusing their daughters, along with uncles, brothers, cousins and even aunts; and now the lesbian craze is in. We are so undervalued because of our ignorance and lack of the potential for honor and respect."

"Women are beautiful and the female body is attractive, but a real man cannot think sane thoughts with the female form on his mind. Girls look at television, watching beautiful Beyonce with her beautiful body, but her moves are so provocative. The child does not know anything about sex, but sees that adults approve of those provocative dances, and begins to imitate Beyonce. As young as four and three, girls are learning to shake their bodies in vulgar dances, yet no one seems to be speaking to this as the destruction of potential virtue."

"Oh, before we say that prayer, the brother of my leader and teacher, the honorable Elijah Muhammad, is here with me and with us. He’s like my father in the absence of my father. He knows this history of the Nation of Islam better than any man in America and I thank God that he lived long enough to see the day that he suffered and worked for, for now 65 years. The brother of the honorable Elijah Muhammad, brother John Muhammad."

"Inside of one month, we would have over $100 million. And in one year, we would have $1.2 billion. What will we do with that? I would love for the leadership up here to form a board and call in Myrlie Evers Williams and ask her, what is the budget of the NAACP for this year? It’s $13 million. It’s $15 million, write a check. Now, next year you have to become accountable to the board, and the members of the NAACP will be on the board too, which means that no Black organization will be accountable to anybody outside of us. But accountable to us and we will free the NAACP, the Urban League and all Black organizations to work in the best interest of our people. How many of you would like to see all our Black organizations free? Now, look brothers, an economic development fund for $10 a month is not a big price to ask to begin to build an economic infrastructure to nurture businesses within the Black community. Soon the leadership is going to meet and work out the details of an Exodus, Exodus Economic Fund."

"I must hasten to tell you, Mr. President, that I’m not a malicious person, and I’m not filled with malice. But, I must tell you that I come in the tradition of the doctor who has to point out, with truth, what’s wrong. And the pain is that power has made America arrogant. Power and wealth has made America spiritually blind and the power and the arrogance of America makes you refuse to hear a child of your slaves pointing out the wrong in your society."

"Now, look brothers, sisters. Some people don’t mind confessing. Some people don’t mind making some slight repentance. But, when it comes to doing something about the evil that we’ve done, we fall short. But atonement means satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury. It means to make amends. It means penance, expiation, compensation and recompense made or done for an injury or wrong. So, atonement means we must be willing to do something in expiation of our sins so we can’t just have a good time today, and say we made history in Washington. We got to resolve today that we’re going back home to do something about what’s going on in our lives and in our families and in our communities."

"For every deed has a consequence. And we can never be granted protection against the faults that we refuse to acknowledge or that we are unwilling to confess. So, look. Who should you confess to? I don’t want to confess. Who should you confess to? Who should I confess to? Who should we confess to? First, you confess to God. And everyone of us that are here today, that knows that we have done wrong, we have to go to God and speak to Him in the privacy of our rooms and confess. He already knows, but when you confess, you’re relieving your soul of the burden that it bears."

"Now, Martin Luther King, Jr. was probably one of the most patriotic Americans. More patriotic than George Washington. More patriotic than Thomas Jefferson. More patriotic than many of the presidents because he had the courage to point out what was wrong in the society. And because he pointed out what was wrong, he was evil spoken of, vilified, maligned, hated and eventually, murdered. Brother Malcolm had that same road to travel. He pointed out what was wrong in the society and he had to suffer for pointing out what was wrong and he ultimately died on the altar for pointing out what was wrong. Inside the nation, outside the nation, to the greater nation and to the smaller nation."

"You must live beyond the narrow restrictions of the divisions that have been imposed upon us. Well, some of us are here because it’s history making. Some of us are here because it’s a march through which we can express anger and rage with America for what she has and is doing to us. So, we’re here for many reasons but the basic reason that this was called was for atonement and reconciliation. So, it is necessary for me in as short of time as possible to give as full an explanation of atonement as possible."

"Oh, but you better look again, Willie. There’s a new Black man in America today. A new Black woman in America today. Now brothers, there’s a social benefit of our gathering here today. And that is, that from this day forward, we can never again see ourselves through the narrow eyes of the limitation of the boundaries of our own fraternal, civic, political, religious, street organization or professional organization. We are forced by the magnitude of what we see here today, that whenever you return to your cities and you see a Black man, a Black woman, don’t ask him what is your social, political or religious affiliation, or what is your status? Know that he is your brother. And if he needs help, you are obligated to help your brother because he is your brother."

"We are standing on the sacrifice of the lives of those heroes, our great men and women that we today may accept the responsibility that life imposes upon each traveler who comes this way. We must accept the responsibility that God has put upon us, not only to be good husbands and fathers and builders of our community, but God is now calling upon the despised and the rejected to become the cornerstone and the builders of a new world."

"You came not at the call of Louis Farrakhan, but you have gathered here at the call of God. For it is only the call of Almighty God, no matter through whom that call came, that could generate this kind of outpouring. God called us here to this place, at this time, for a very specific reason. And now, I want to say, my brothers, this is a very pregnant moment, pregnant with the possibility of tremendous change in our status in America and in the world. Although the call was made through me, many have tried to distance the beauty of this idea from the person through whom the idea and the call was made."

"Right here on this mall where we are standing, according to books written on Washington, D.C., slaves used to be brought right here on this mall in chains to be sold up and down the eastern seaboard. Right along this mall, going over to the White House, our fathers were sold into slavery. But, George Washington, the first president of the United States, said he feared that before too many years passed over his head, this slave would prove to become a most troublesome species of property. Thomas Jefferson said he trembled for this country when he reflected that God was just and that His justice could not sleep forever. Well, the day that these presidents feared has now come to pass, for on this mall, here we stand in the capital of America, and the layout of this great city, laid out by a Black man, Benjamin Banneker. This is all placed and based in a secret Masonic ritual. And at the core of the secret of that ritual is the Black man. Not far from here is the White House."

"Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president. Thomas Jefferson, the third president, and 16 and 3 make 19 again. What is so deep about this number 19? Why are we standing on the Capitol steps today? That number 19! When you have a nine, you have a womb that is pregnant. And when you have a one standing by the nine, it means that there’s something secret that has to be unfolded."

"Abraham Lincoln, when he saw this great divide, he pondered a solution of separation. Abraham Lincoln said he never was in favor of our being jurors or having equal status with the Whites of this nation. Abraham Lincoln said that if there were to be a superior or inferior, he would rather the superior position be assigned to the White race."

"We’re standing at the steps of the United States Capitol. I’m looking at the Washington Monument and beyond it to the Lincoln Memorial. And, beyond that, to the left, to your right, the Jefferson Memorial. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of these United States and he was the man who allegedly freed us. Abraham Lincoln saw in his day, what President Clinton sees in this day. He saw the great divide between Black and White. Abraham Lincoln and Bill Clinton see what the Kerner Commission saw 30 years ago when they said that this nation was moving toward two Americas–one Black, one White, separate and unequal. And the Kerner Commission revisited their findings 25 years later and saw that America was worse today than it was in the time of Martin Luther King, Jr. There’s still two Americas, one Black, one White, separate and unequal."

"We thank all of the Black newspapers, radio stations, commentators, disc jockeys who really talked up the Million Man March. The mass media did not get involved until the last minute and it seemed as though they got involved with another agenda in mind. But to all of you, and we thank you the mass media too, because even though you planned it for mischief, God planned it for good."

"I believe that there is {a} continuing investigation and I believe that Mr. Bush and those who fear the rise of black people see me as much today a threat as they saw my brother, Martin Luther King, when he made that speech, a really innocuous speech in Washington in 1963 where he hoped that black and white and Jew and gentile, Protestant and Catholic would get together. The next day, J. Edgar Hoover received from his staff people a memo saying that Martin Luther King Jr. was the most dangerous Negro in America and then this government through the Justice Department investigated Dr. King vigorously, and I doubt that the government can escape culpability in that man's assassination or in the assassination of Malcolm X. And I firmly believe that they have something similar in store for me."

"And I'll close by saying, you know Mr. Bush, the president, I think a week before he was elected, was standing before the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles and he pledged his support to Israel. And then he turned around and said that he pledged continued support, funding the Justice Department in their vigorous investigation and prosecution of antisemites whether they wear brown shirts, white shirts and bow ties, whether they live in Skokie, Chicago or Brooklyn, the villain is the same. I don't think they were talking about Sen. {Paul} Simon {D-Ill.}, who wears white shirts and bow ties. That to me says that this president has in his heart for me what Reagan had in his heart for {Libyan leader Moammar} Gadhafi. And I'm saying that's a mistake. Through The Washington Post, I'd like to say to Mr. Bush, that would be unwise. And it is unwise because you, Mr. Bush, are in the position of a modern pharaoh and Pharaoh lost his army, his government and his power over his rejection of an honorable and just solution to the problem posed by the unwanted presence of the Israelite slaves. And so it is today."

"Gentiles and Jews worked together with the aid of America, England, France, the United Nations and set up the state of Israel, took land from the Palestinians, but you created a state for Israel and you created hope for Jews. All Jews are not there, but all Jews know that they have the right to go there."

"Since the prisons are full and you really don't rehabilitate prisoners, you loved Malcolm X, so you say. Well, look at Malcolm. He was a thief, a hustler, a pimp, a user of drugs, a seller of drugs, a bank robber. Would you love him in that condition? Would you accept a picture of him on your wall in that condition? But who reclaimed him? We did. And the brilliance of that man is the same brilliance that's hiding in prisons all over America. Malcolm was not the exception. Malcolm is the rule. There are many brilliant black people. All they need is a chance."

"We built your country and this civilization has turned us so backward mentally that you let us go under the Emancipation Proclamation, passed the 13th Amendment against involuntary slavery knowing that {because of} the mental condition that our people were in, we would become your volunteer servants. And so we have served America, fought in all her wars, bled and died on every field of battle. We helped you beat Germany, and now Germany is reunited and we can't get together. The walls are tumbling down between Eastern Europeans, but no walls are tumbling down with us because there are those who don't want to see us reconcile our differences."

"America, since the 1954 Supreme Court decision and since the civil rights acts of 1964 and '65, has created a larger black middle class sort of as a buffer between the white community and the black community. And this middle class that has been created as a result of the struggle of the poor, the youth that were out on the marches with Dr. King, the youth that were rioting, the youth that were throwing the Molotov cocktails, the youth that got shot down in the streets -- it was their effort that caused you {black journalists} to be here. You weren't here before then, I don't think. It's the suffering, the poor black people that opened the door for us sitting around the table."

"And we are afraid when we see a population ever growing, millions of unemployed, millions of unemployable and angry youth. And we see drugs flooding into our community and you know we don't produce the drugs, we don't bring them in. You know, sir, that because of the deep economic condition in the black community, you can't offer young blacks a job at Wendy's or McDonald's as an alternative to selling crack. And if Mr. Bush can see the wisdom in providing some economic solutions to the growers of the cocoa leaf in Peru and Bolivia, then surely Mr. Bush should see there has to be an economic solution to drugs in America and particularly in the black community. So I am saying we are dying. Blacks are dying in America at an inordinate rate. Is there a plan? We believe there is."

"For those who are students of history, we are very suspicious to be very honest with you, because we know the history. We know that in this country to decimate the population of the Indians, blankets were sent to the Indians containing smallpox. We know that in this country {there was} the Tuskegee experiment, where a hundred black men were given the most virulent form of syphilis and a program was set up that they would never be treated for syphilis and these men cohabited with many, many women, spreading syphilis among our people. This is documented. We do know that in New Zealand, in Australia, in the Congo -- wherever whites have wanted that particular area -- there has been a genocidal plot against the lives of those native people, and it goes on to this day. And we respectfully submit that we are deeply concerned because we have a population of between 30-40 million people much of whom are useless to this society. And we watch how this society treats the elderly who have served this country well, and we watch how this society treats those who have outlived their usefulness."

"I feel that there is a certain sensitivity -- that Jewish rabbis and I have sat down and talked about -- that Jews have, and that we have as a persecuted and an oppressed people. And maybe in that sensitivity there has been a reaction to statements made by Louis Farrakhan as we react to anything that opens a sore with us like the {CBS-TV commentator Andy} Rooney thing recently and the other fellow on CBS, Jimmy the Greek. We're very sensitive and Jews are very sensitive. And in that sensitivity, I think care has to be taken by us. And sometimes when you say something and people say, "Ouch!" and you learn that you have offended, then you're conscious of being careful."

"I couldn't honestly say that. But, you know, it's like a knee-jerk reaction, because when {there's} a person like myself, and, you know, as a white person or as a Jewish person you're not used to hearing any black person criticizing Jewish behavior, not publicly. I could be wrong. But I don't recall any black person ever being lambasted like Louis Farrakhan {has been lambasted} as a bigot and {an} antisemite."

"There are righteous Jews, and there are righteous Christians, and there are righteous Muslims; and there are unrighteous Jews and unrighteous Christians and unrighteous Muslims. There are righteous blacks and there are unrighteous blacks, and now if we're going to get into lumping everyone together, then I think we would be guilty of making an error."